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Cops Corner: Longboat Key

Feb. 18Reckless driver
9:51 p.m. — 5600 block of GMD. Reckless Driving. Police were dispatched to a reported reckless driver in a gray truck heading southbound, but were unable to locate the truck.

Feb. 21Blame game
8:01 p.m. — 200 block of Sands Point Road.Property Damage. A resort guest drove a golf cart into a pond and yelled at a manager, saying it was the resort’s fault for not showing him how to operate the cart. Police were unable to reach the guest but left him a message.

Feb. 22Under pressure
12:33 a.m. — 5600 block of GMD.Noise Disturbance. Police received a complaint about loud pressure washing being done at a restaurant and told three employees who were washing equipment in the parking lot to stop washing for the night.

Exit strategy3:53 a.m. — 4700 block of GMD. Welfare Check. A security guard called police after a possibly intoxicated guest arrived at a hotel by taxi. The guard said that the guest had a wake-up call scheduled for 6:30 a.m. and a scheduled flight and was worried that the man would try to drive himself to the airport. Police told the guard to call them if the man attempted to leave and/or appeared too intoxicated to drive.

Check, please11:51 a.m. — 6800 block of GMD. Civil Disturbance. A shopping-center owner said that a new restaurant tenant, whom he allowed to access a unit so that she could make alterations, opened for business without his knowledge. He said that after he confronted her, she wrote him a check and then canceled it. The tenant told police that she traded out repairs for free rent and that she canceled the check after the agreement was made. The woman had agreed to move out and signed a document giving up tenant rights to the unit but didn’t want to give it to the landlord until she had removed her property.

Electric loss 6:42 p.m. — 2000 block of GMD. Fire. Police investigated a smell of smoke and learned from firefighters that the smell was caused by a diesel generator, which was activated due to a loss of electricity.

Feb. 23Unlocked door
12:37 p.m. — 5300 block of GMD.Security Check. Police contacted a restaurant owner after they found the business unlocked.

Short circuit9:31 a.m. — 1000 block of Bogey Lane.Fire. Police arrived at a home in reference to a burning smell and were told by firefighters that an electrical short circuit occurred in the home’s fluorescent lights.

Issue comes into focus9:42 a.m. — 4700 block of GMD. Disturbance. A man who had been fired the day before from a condominium got into an argument with the manager when he returned to bring back a camera that belonged to the complex. The man didn’t want to return the camera without a written receipt, but the manager wanted the man trespassed. Police got the receipt written and issued the man a trespass warning.

No soliciting allowed12:29 p.m. — 5700 block of GMD. Soliciting. Police stopped two men in a grocery vehicle who were selling food items door-to-door and warned them about the town’s soliciting ordinance. The men agreed to leave the island.

Let’s call it a night11:06 p.m. — 700 block of St. Judes Drive N. Noise Disturbance. A man reported that he could hear a group of people talking loudly outside. The resident of the home where the group was gathered agreed that she and her friends would go inside for the night.

Feb. 26Sounding off
3:20 a.m. — 700 block of St. Judes Drive N.Noise Disturbance. A woman called to report loud music coming from a home on her street. The home’s occupants said they didn’t know that their music could be heard with the windows and doors closed.

Water-gun control7:26 p.m. — Intersection of GMD and North Shore Road.Suspicious Circumstance. A man told police that an object that looked like a handgun fell out when his daughter grabbed a beach towel from a chair. The object turned out to be a purple-and-orange toy water gun. Police gave the water gun to the man’s children.

The customer is always right9:55 p.m. — 800 block of Broadway. Suspicious Vehicle. Police located a pickup truck that a restaurant owner reported had driven in and out of the parking lot several times in a suspicious manner. The man and woman in the truck said that they had eaten at the restaurant earlier, and the woman believed she left her cell-phone charger in the bar area but wasn’t sure, which was why they drove back to the restaurant. The man said that he used to live above the restaurant next door and wanted to show the woman the location, which was why they were driving around the area. Police decided their explanations were not suspicious and had no further cause for concern.

Feb. 27Sleeping it off
4:53 a.m. — 500 block of GMD.Bicycle. A bicyclist riding southbound with no headlight told police that he went to a restaurant, had a few too many drinks and decided it wasn’t safe for him to head back to Sarasota. The man said that he lay down near the restaurant until he sobered up. The man, who is homeless, received a warning about the lack of headlight and a tip that no camping or loitering is permitted on Key beaches.